The first of four gas-fired co-generation power plants being built by Alinta at Alcoa refineries in
The state-of-the-art power station is driving Alinta’s move into becoming a serious player in
In an innovative partnership, Alcoa has teamed up with Alinta to enable the four co-generation plants to be built at its Pinjarra and Wagerup refineries south of
Best-known as WA’s major gas distributor and retailer, Alinta is also intent on forging a reputation as being a provider of “cleaner and cheaper electricity.”
The 140-megawatt (MW) cogeneration power station is helping Alinta take on its larger, state-owned rival, Synergy (the retail arm of the entity formerly known as Western Power) in the electricity business. Energy Minister Fran Logan on October 15 officially opened the co-generation unit, located on site at Alcoa’s Pinjarra alumina refinery.
The cogeneration unit is one of
“Alinta is changing the way business is powered in WA,” said Alinta CEO Bob Browning. “Through co-generation, Alinta is now able to provide cleaner and cheaper electricity to our contestable customers.”
The cleaner and cheaper electricity produced by the co-generation plant is an important part of Alinta’s move into competing for business and industrial customers. At this stage, only customers who spend more than approximately $8000 per year are deemed ‘contestable’ customers. Alinta cannot yet sell electricity to “mum and dad” householders.
The co-generation unit is also an important part of Alcoa’s upgrade of its Pinjarra alumina refinery.
“The provision of steam from the cogeneration plant to Alcoa’s power station enables us to operate the refinery in a more environmentally sustainable way,” said Wayne Osborn, managing director of Alcoa of Australia.
“Alcoa is committed to tackling greenhouse, so supporting cogeneration is a good fit for us. This is about clean, practical and efficient energy both for Alcoa and the community,” he said.
Co-generation is a process which produces two outputs – electricity and steam – from the one input (gas). The plant produces 140 MW of electricity and 240 tons per hour of steam, delivering electricity to Alinta’s power consumers while providing steam for Alcoa’s Pinjarra refinery. Alcoa will be able to use the steam to retire a number of older boilers at its refinery, significantly improving its environmental performance.
The cogeneration plant is more than 75 percent efficient in converting fuel into electricity, compared with about 30 to 35 percent for coal-fired generation and 50 percent energy efficiency for combined cycle gas turbines.
A year’s electricity from each co-generation unit results in savings of about 450,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions when compared to a similar sized coal fired plant – the equivalent of removing 90,000 cars from our roads. In addition, each unit will reduce Alcoa’s refinery greenhouse emissions by 135,000 tons per year through more efficient steam generation. This is equivalent to taking a further 30,000 cars off the road. Alcoa is already the largest co-generator of energy in
A second co-generation unit is also under construction immediately adjacent to the unit opened on October 15. Alinta and Alcoa have also committed to further generation projects at Alcoa’s Wagerup refinery, with plans to convert these to cogeneration technology when demand warrants.
Alinta Power Services general manager Jim Hennessy said Alinta was currently investing around $570 million in private power generation.
Hennessy said the state government’s commitment to electricity reform – evidenced in the recent split of Western Power – had been a critical step in convincing Alinta to enter the electricity business.
He said the state government’s reforms had brought much needed competition into the state’s electricity system, with businesses benefiting from lower prices.
